Made in Staffordshire

The Moseley Railway Trust is pleased to announce that the theme for the September 2011 Gala weekend will be "Made in Staffordshire". The Gala will be on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September 2011, at the Moseley Railway Trust’s Apedale Valley Light Railway, based in North Staffordshire. The event aims to celebrate the rich industrial heritage of Staffordshire. Central to the event will be the two Kerr Stuart steam locomotives which will be operating on the 2’0"gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway. These will be the newly-restored "Joffre" locomotive, dating from 1916, and 1917 built locomotive "Stanhope". Kerr Stuart were, of course, based just a few miles away from Apedale in Stoke on Trent.

Negotiations are continuing for other visiting locomotives, but it is hoped to have representatives from other Staffordshire based locomotive builders at the event. As ever, there will be a full complement of displays, sales stands and attractions to entertain and delight all the family, young and old.

Phil Robinson, MRT Chairman, said "The return to steam for the "Joffre" locomotive allows us to celebrate all that is "Made in Staffordshire". We are planning another great gala weekend".

The Moseley Railway Trust continues its search for surviving employees of Kerr Stuart, and a number of interesting leads are being followed up currently.

The Trust would be pleased to hear from potential exhibitors, especially those whose exhibits have a Staffordshire connection. Get in touch via the MRT website, http://www.mrt.org.uk/, or come and see us at Apedale any weekend. Passenger Trains commence running on the Apedale Valley Light Railway from Saturday 2^nd April 2011.

The Gala will be open from 11.00 to 17.00 on each day. Further details will be announced as they become finalised.

Friends

...the one where lots of trains run up the Apedale Valley.

During the ten years when the Moseley Railway Trust had no railway of its own, various other organisations helped and supported us by allowing visits and the like at other railways. Yesterday was an opportunity to say "thank you" to the many individuals and organisations who helped the MRT during the wilderness years. We welcomed people from, amongst others, the Golden Valley Light Railway, the West Lancashire Light Railway, the Amerton Railway and Alan Keef Ltd. We ran a significant number of locomotives; courtesy a a recently amended rulebook, we were also able to run a more intensive service of demonstration goods trains on the main line. For the spotters out there, the locos run were:-

Steam - KS2395 Stanhope and vertical boiler "Paddy". Battery locos No.2 (WR C6716), 67 (WR D6912), 71 (CE5843), Petrol No.33 (MR7033), and diesels 7 (MR8663), 13 (MR11142), 20 (MR8748), 25 (HE6007), 29 (RH195846), 40 (SMH40SD516), 42 (MR7710), 43 (SMH104G063), 44 (HU LX1001), 58 (HC D558), 61 (MR1320), 62 (RH497542), 80 (LB52610), 81 (MR2197) and 90 (BD3756). I make that 21 in total - how many railways can turn out 21 locos without really trying too hard? Get in touch here!

Not Long to go

This weekend has seen steady progress on a number of fronts at Apedale. There's not long to go now until the first weekend on the 2011 running season - our first full year of running at Apedale - so it's been a case of tidying up and making ready. The station building at "Silverdale" station is making good progress. It seems that the CME didn't quite understand when the builder said that the brickwork was almost complete, it just needed the pointing doing. Bless 'im, they've just changed the medication. The station building is a project managed by our neighbours at the Apedale Heritage Centre. The building itself came from the former Silverdale station, on the North Staffs Railway, and was used to shelter many a traincrew whilst they brewed up in between loading MGR coal trains at the adjacent colliery loader. Hence the building surviving long after the branch closed to passengers. Meanwhile, in anticipation of the hordes of interested members attending our imminent MRT AGM day, one or two of the rarer seen locomotives have had a quick outing - the photo shows petrol Motor Rail number 7033. This is the once-legendary Macclesfield loco -it lurked in a garage under a block of flats for many years, and had become something of a mystery amongst those who follow such things. That's the loco, not the flats. Finally, the C&W department seem to have been practicing for the Olympic "Name that Part" contest. If you can Name that Part, get in touch here.

The only constant......

A number of years ago, I had some delightful experiences working with management consultants. In between him telling the time using my watch, I was regaled with a litany of cliches. "The Only Constant is Change" was a particular favourite, right until the moment when we had the consultant shot. Harsh but fair, and he didn't do it again. With increasing years, one realises that may 0.001% of what he said had some truth in it. It's certainly true these days at the Moseley Railway Trust's Apedale site. The last few years have been about making new things - coaches, buildings, railways and so on. But with the opening of the Phase One railway, then we have seen a Change in the general scope of activities towards maintaining and improving things. A case in point is the Penrhyn Coach replica. It was built in-house by the MRT more than ten years ago, and used intermittently since. The main use was at Alan Keef Ltd's Open days - the picture shows it on a very damp day in September 2006. But it was getting a little shabby, so a team has set to work on rectifying the bodywork. Good progress is being made. Consideration is also being given to fitting a lightweight roof to cut down on the visitor/carbon particle interface issues we have seen in the past with steam locos. The team are going to need to crack on - it's only three weeks to go until the start of the running season for the Apedale Valley Light Railway on 2nd April sharp at 11.00. See you than - or get in touch here.

Strictly Kango

A busy day at Apedale has seen a lot of track maintenance carried out. A key part of the track maintenance programme has been tamping the ballast to ensure firm support for the railway. The length of the railway now mandates the use of generators to provide power for the Kango hammers. It's hard going, and the team can perhaps skip tonights trip to the gym. See, we're all heart. Meanwhile, back at the workshops, an uber-shunt took place to allow Stanhope to be converted to a temporary 040 for a boiler inspection. Who knows, we might decide we like it and it can stay like that. Our neighboring shotblasters had dealt with a WDLR bogie frame for a wagon project. Unfortunately, the forklift is hors-de-combat currently, so more innovative means had to be used to get the bogie back onto the railway for work to continue. All part of the rich tapestry which is a day at Apedale. You don't have to be good at tapestry to come along and help - just get in touch here. Finally, a blatant advert for a publication which we advertise in - follow this link.

The changing of the seasons

When I was at school....Before we go on, let me clarify two points. 1:- It wasn't THAT long ago (really), and 2:- It was NOT a famous/infamous Grammar school in the Cheadle area of Manchester. Anyway, when I was at school every so often an enormous Bell & Howell film projector would be hauled into the in the main hall. It was a big thing, and I always imagined the scene was a bit like dragging the stones used to build Stonehenge. The teacher would throw a switch and the bulb would start to warm up. All over the area street lights would dim due to the current draw. Drax power station would light extra boilers - you get the idea. Eventually, a Disney wildlife documentary would be screened. This would create the lasting impression that Lemmings commit mass suicide.Of course, we now know that to be rubbish - it is (of course) Meerkats which commit mass suicide. Simples. At some stage in the film, a gravelly voice would say "...and the eternal cycle of the seasons, spring follows winter....". We finally saw some signs at Apedale that Spring may be seriously considering following Winter this year. Firstly, we've got the snowplough out, thereby guaranteeing no snow for the next ten years. Secondly, it was actually sunny yesterday. This allowed us to finish brake testing on the Baguley Drewry and therefore permit its entry into passenger service this season. These days, there's no reassuring man from HMRI to sign everything off; in the ROGS era, one has to verify for oneself that the thing is safe. Hence we tend to be pretty thorough. The final test was with the loco, all the passenger coaches and a five-ton Motor Rail on the back simulating the weight of the passengers - the whole ensemble making a pretty impressive site with the mighty Perkins diesel fighting to the upper reaches on the power curve as it fights to reach 10mph downhill. So, with seven weeks to go to start of passenger service, we now have two passenger diesels. Thankfully, we also now have a crest for the railway. Thanks to an international design competition, we have produced what you see below. Nice isn't it? If you think it's nice, get in touch here. If you don't like it, then please remember what happened to the Lemmings.

Up periscope

As you can see from the above film, the Motor Rail dumper (no.8389 of 1947) has managed to move under its own power. It lacks a few minor refinements currently, such as any forward visibility for the driver. However, we're planning an outing to Barrow in Furness where apparently there's something which may provide the answer. In the case of the dumper, the operational time is limited by how long the tyres stay inflated rather than such mundane matters as fuel and driver's hours. Meanwhile, some work has actually been done on the railway, including another Motor Rail, number 5038. The photos show it in the early 1970s at Ashchurch and as it is currently. The bonnets hide a multitude of ills - not least a mechanical conundrum with the clutch, which is hopefully now solved. Offers of redundant submarine equipment should be sent here, please.